MANCHESTER UNITED are making early moves in the transfer market.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe‘s Ineos have made a fast start to their second summer window since their arrival as co-owners at Old Trafford – and the stakes could not be higher.
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While there is an argument to be made that none of the transfers made in the last 12 months were TOTAL flops, it did not stop Man Utd from having their worst-ever Premier League season.
And the squad clearly needs a lot of work to bring it up to the standard of even a top-half team.
Fortunately, club transfer chiefs have wasted no time in trying to address those issues, first of all confirming the signing of 15-goal Wolves Brazil ace Matheus Cunha for £62.5million.
The 26-year-old’s move will be completed once he returns from international duty.
Then, just a day later, reports emerged revealing Brentford forward Bryan Mbeumo had his heart set on a move to Manchester.
Mbeumo scored 20 goals and added seven assists last season, and, according to reports, is ready to snub Newcastle and Arsenal to seal a deal estimated to be around £50m.
Furthermore, club captain and talisman Bruno Fernandes will now NOT move to Al-Hilal after turning down a crazy offer of £700,000-a-week – and around £100m for United.
While Fernandes – the team’s only genuine world-class player – seemingly staying is doubtless a positive, it poses the question of how Ruben Amorim will arrange his new assortment of attacking goodies.
SunSport has taken a look at three ways Man Utd could line up next season, including some other stars the fallen giants have been linked with ahead of a huge summer.
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As mentioned earlier, Man Utd need work from top to bottom, including both a new goalkeeper, central midfielder and striker, even after the Cunha and Mbeumo deals.
For our first possible team, we have named World Cup winner Emi Martinez in goal after SunSport exclusively revealed how the Aston Villa star was “up for the challenge” of turning Man Utd around.
The starting back three sees Lisandro Martinez, who prior to his injury was one of the best performers under Amorim, alongside Matthijs de Ligt and Leny Yoro, who both got better as the season went on.
Fernandes is in midfield, where he can get on the ball the most and set the tempo from deeper, which seems to be his new main position under Amorim.
Next to him, is Brighton star Carlos Baleba, who would act as the perfect foil to the 30-year-old in the middle of the park, but crucially also bring on and off the ball quality.
The data suggests the 21-year-old is among the best in the league for defensive contributions such as blocks, interceptions and tackles in the attacking third.
He also ranks fifth in ball recoveries in the league, behind Moises Caicedo, Fernandes, Elliot Anderson and Joao Gomes.
This would naturally be an expensive deal, so only time will tell whether he firstly wants the move and secondly whether Man Utd can agree a good deal with Brighton, who are notoriously tough negotiators.
But then, with Amad Diallo and Patrick Dorgu as the wing-backs supporting Mbeumo and Cunha, we have added former Premier League bad boy Aleksandar Mitrovic into the attacking mix.
The Al-Hilal star is reportedly open to a return to England, and joining Man Utd to link up with Cunha and Mbeumo would see the club have three of the best midtable stars the Prem has seen in the last five years.
However, our other teams have also swapped some of the names mentioned for similar players linked.
In goal, we have also speculated on the arrival of former Man Utd academy shot-stopper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic and Serie A star Zion Suzuki.
Man Utd will need a top midfielder who is physically fit and capable on the ball to strengthen the spine of the team, which also leads us to Crystal Palace‘s Adam Wharton as an alternative to Baleba.
Again, this is an expensive deal. But Man Utd should be eyeing sure hits in the market this summer, rather than speculating on potential – a criteria both Baleba and Wharton, while admittedly still young, already possess.
In terms of Fernandes’ role, there is an argument to be made that his best football for Man Utd came playing right behind the striker, where he is most impactful in the final third.
Cunha and Mbeumo represent two strong profiles to link up with.
And should Man Utd suffer a striker crisis or fail to land an appropriate ace this summer, they could always deploy Cunha as a “false 9” with Mbeumo and Fernandes buzzing off of his link play.
There is also a chance Amorim switches to a more attacking two-striker system if he wants to really stretch games.
If Man Utd can set up a reunion between Amorim and Viktor Gyokeres, he may look to have two fast forwards leading the line to stretch the opposition defence before the likes of Cunha arrive to support them in the final third.
Sales will be key to these plans of course, but many are already seemingly in the works, with Rasmus Hojlund attracting interest from Inter Milan, Marcus Rashford linked with Barcelona, and bad boy Alejandro Garnacho tipped for a move to Chelsea or Napoli.
